Sexy Shrimp Feeding Frequency

[AstroCoral]

How often are you feeding sexy shrimp? The reason I ask is that my eviota nano goby only gets fed pellets twice a week, the reason being that he/she eats a large amount of copepods on a daily basis. I like the low nutrient load that my twice weekly feeding is providing my tank, I don’t have a strong desire for this feeding regimen to increase significantly but also was contemplating on adding a sexy shrimp as my eviota nano goby is rarely outside of the live rock. Is this just a disaster waiting to happen if the sexy shrimp turns to eating my frags if not fed enough? How infrequently can you feed a sexy shrimp without them going hungry/turning on coral?

 

[j.falk]

Sexy shrimp will eat corals if they are not kept well fed. I used to feed my tank twice daily and the sexy shrimp I had at the time still ate my corals.

 

[AstroCoral]

Sexy shrimp will eat corals if they are not kept well fed. I used to feed my tank twice daily and the sexy shrimp I had at the time still ate my corals.

I should probably avoid sexy shrimp then, I greatly appreciate you sharing your experience. Not sure if there are any other shrimp options that stay relatively small for a Pico tank, I’ll have to keep looking around for something better suited for my tank.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

agree with above, they munch on corals and seem to love zoa's, I can't keep zoa's in my main tank anymore.

 

[AstroCoral]

agree with above, they munch on corals and seem to love zoa's, I can't keep zoa's in my main tank anymore.

I was reading they tend to eat zoa’s in some articles. I don’t have any zoanthids but I do have some euphyllia that I also read were targets of sexy shrimp.

 

[j.falk]

I should probably avoid sexy shrimp then, I greatly appreciate you sharing your experience. Not sure if there are any other shrimp options that stay relatively small for a Pico tank, I’ll have to keep looking around for something better suited for my tank.

Glass anemone shrimp?

 

[Acroconut]

Mine don't seem to bother my Zoa's. They get most of their food stealing from my rock flower anemones, and occasionally pick on my cup coral, but have never done any lasting damage.

 

[AstroCoral]

Glass anemone shrimp?

This looks promising, I appreciate the suggestion!

 

[Stomatopods17]

This thread is the first I'm hearing of sexies eating coral, we sure this isn't rumors about dead tissue being eaten?

Mine didn't so much as even leave their mushroom coral host let alone pick at anything, I've never witness them catch any food when I fed the tank, not roam off the coral to get any. They tend to just eat the waste produced by their host or food that you spray into in.

For alternatives I'd recommend bumblebee shrimp, spotted anemone shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis), or a blue coral banded shrimp (stays small so its significantly less threatening to fish).

 

[j.falk]

This thread is the first I'm hearing of sexies eating coral, we sure this isn't rumors about dead tissue being eaten?

Mine didn't so much as even leave their mushroom coral host let alone pick at anything.

I watched mine eat my corals.

 

[Tired]

This thread is the first I'm hearing of sexies eating coral, we sure this isn't rumors about dead tissue being eaten?

Mine didn't so much as even leave their mushroom coral host let alone pick at anything.

Nah, they'll eat the skirts off zoas, and are known to pretty reliably go after various corals if not fed very often. This isn't a case of scavengers getting blamed, sexies really do pick at corals.

Honestly, any shrimp that aren't also scavenging algae should generally be fed pretty frequently, and most cleaner-types won't eat algae. If you can get one, a plume shrimp/Donald Duck shrimp should do fine- mine didn't get fed for months (couldn't find it, thought it was dead) and it ate... something. Not corals.

Got any hermits? I like scarlet reef hermits- they're picky about shells, but fun to watch, and are about the most peaceful hermits you can get.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I watched mine eat my corals.

Will they eat xenia and/or cloves?

 

[Stomatopods17]

Nah, they'll eat the skirts off zoas, and are known to pretty reliably go after various corals if not fed very often. This isn't a case of scavengers getting blamed, sexies really do pick at corals.

Honestly, any shrimp that aren't also scavenging algae should generally be fed pretty frequently, and most cleaner-types won't eat algae. If you can get one, a plume shrimp/Donald Duck shrimp should do fine- mine didn't get fed for months (couldn't find it, thought it was dead) and it ate... something. Not corals.

Got any hermits? I like scarlet reef hermits- they're picky about shells, but fun to watch, and are about the most peaceful hermits you can get.

Interesting, I wonder if that's the case for other symbiotic shrimp as well. Particularly white spot anemone shrimp.

My biggest disbelief is that a sexy shrimp would leave its host to go scavenge, but I supposed if there's a zoa garden nearby it wouldn't have any issues going near it and picking. My White spot anemone shrimp I see roam the whole tank, even swimming around at night but staying on the anemone during the day, I wonder if it would do something similar. There's too much GSP for me to notice any damage.

 

[SaltyT]

Will they eat xenia and/or cloves?

Not sure about cloves, but my sexy shrimp are in with pulsing xenia and they don't eat it the xenia is still spreading all over.

 

[Stomatopods17]

Will they eat xenia and/or cloves?

My GSP and Xenia still grew like an invasive pest so either a) doesn't matter, b) no

Cloves no clue.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I am setting up a Biocube with pulsing xenia, cloves, RFAs, and sexy shrimp... but I don't have the shrimp just yet.

 

[AquaLogic]

Mine haven’t shown any interest in my zoa’s. They hosted a hammer coral and seem to live on detritus. I saw one catch a mysis when I sprayed some in once.

 

[VintageReefer]

I don’t feed them. They seem to be scavengers/grazers